@ecotrain Question of the Week Tie-up Post: What rituals do you have, and why are they important to you?
Ahh rituals! We all have something that we do for ourselves that makes the day that much more special. There are SO many kinds of rituals that we partake in and for SO many reasons! It can be a source of enjoyment and relaxation, a short break from the days chores, or a spiritual act. Whatever it is, rituals are important to every culture in the world, and whilst often very private, many of us partake in the very same rituals every day.
If you would like to see what rituals the @ecotrain passengers enjoy then they are all below! There are ALL sorts of rituals in this weeks answers, as always a varied bunch we are! I'm always interested to hear your rituals so please do share with us in a post or the comments below.. maybe we can inspire each other!
THIS WEEKS POSTS ON THE QUESTION
What rituals do you have, and why are they important to you?
@porters
When I wake up in the morning, how important it is to shake off the grogginess from sleep and get my energy flowing, ready to greet all the kids in the "Play and Exploration" program.
If I'm not up to meeting the kids with energy and enthusiasm, they pick up on it real quick and it makes for a not so pleasant day. I love working (or playing) with the kids, but as you can imagine there can be many challenges with having a group of sixteen 3 and 4 year olds with only 2 adults.
My Routine to get my day started and myself ready and energized -
It starts the night before - I prepare a cup of chocolate orange tea to have ready to hydrate myself first thing in the morning.
Upon waking I want to get moving - I do some stretches (combination of simple yoga poses and other stretches for my back.) Once my muscles are stretched I get my energy going with gentle sit bouncing, moving on to standing bounce on my toes then onto the rebounder for a few minutes.
@kennyskitchen
Over the past few years, as I have been living out of my backpack, traveling full-time, never really knowing where I was heading next, sleeping wherever there was a flat place to sleep, etc... There hasn't been a whole lot of space for ritual to the extent that I prefer.
Right now I'm landing back in Portland and renting a room, with one of my primary goals/intentions being to create more space for myself to have structure, ritual, and of course not always be in someone else's space. Here are a handful of my current rituals, as well as ones that I'm working on building into my life right now.
@trucklife-family
Ritual is an important part of my life, it provides me with the space I need to connect with myself and my natural environment. It is an act of self love, an opportunity to bring more awareness and mindfulness into my daily life. To me a ritual can last a few minutes or a few hours, depending on the intent and the need. I have my own personal rituals that I do alone or sometimes with my children, or I have other rituals that I create with members of my community. Walking barefoot on the ground is a personal ritual of mine, that really helps to keep me grounded and helps to to release any pend up energy, it also allows me to stay connected to the earths natural cycles.
@riverflows
Rituals sound beautiful. Ceremonies are beautiful to watch - the deep reverence of lighting a candle to a deity, the pouring of tea, the donning of tribal dress, the smearing on of paint. Even Christmas - the same time, the same place, the rituals observed at a friends where hands cross and crackers are pulled with laughing alternate fingers, the ritual game of cricket uniting fathers and sons under hot Australian skies. The ritual too of oft repeated habits - the scent of tobacco twisted in paper with the morning coffee.
Ecotrain's question of the week is always a prompt for deep reflection and this one is no different - @ecoalex asks:
But despite thinking about it for days, I can't think of something I'd solidly classify as a ritual. I set up the situation for ritual - the altar for meditative practice, the yoga mat, even the daily watering of plants in the summer - but my attention to these is sporadic and inconsistant. I can do a daily japa for a month and abandon and start something new. I can go to the yoga studio everyday for a week and then practice at home instead, bored with the classes.
@nainaztengra
Rituals are an integral part of lot of people. Some Rituals are done on daily basis or purpose specific or religious & festival rituals. Be it whatever, one thing what I like about Rituals is they bring in a lot of positivity and boost up energy levels. Personally I like doing Rituals and get a very good feeling when I do them. There are certain rituals which have become like a mandate of my life and I never miss them unless there is a situation which absolutely does not allow me. Not that I have a compulsion to do it, but I so much enjoy doing it that I never want to miss them.
So here are few of my Rituals, which I so thoroughly enjoy
Morning Prayer
Some of my daily Rituals that I follow is a short prayer before getting out of the bed. I like to do a prayer daily which normally takes a minimum of half an hour but there are times when I am not able to do it. But the short prayer on getting up is something I never miss and it has become a part of me.
@misslasvegas
Now, some people might think that I have to have some kind of ritual, routine or something in place because I have kids. Well, newsflash: nothing could be further from the truth. What started out as a 'normal' homeschooling family, slowly evolved to a unschooling family, now bordering on a chaotic radical unschooling wildlife jungle. Only without the jungle (ah, I wish...). This didn't just happen overnight or with a plan in place. No. It just happened. I think it might have been around the summer of 2017, right around the same time I joined Steemit. Wait a minute!Maybe it happened partly because of Steemit. Actually, now that I come to think of it, it probably did. And with it, some kinds of rituals possibly developed as well. So yeah @eco-alex, you're right again. Even I have rituals...What a wise man... 😉
@eco-alex
Rituals are special because of the feeling they impart in you when you perform them. It really matters not what the ritual actually is, except that is for empowered rituals through magic and sacred texts. Many religions and cultures use ritual as a doorway to our sacred-selves, and we have probably all seen images of Buddhist chanting and bell ringing. A ritual can be something very comforting also, and for many people it has nothing to do with religion or even spirituality. How many people smoke a cigarette, or roll one up, as a way to get through the day and have those precious moments with our selves. It is something very familiar, and that makes us feel safe, so rituals can be a very personal and comforting act as well.
I can remember when I was a 6th form student smoking joints outside the back of the school, and when we use to pass them to each other my friend Gideon and I would always touch it to the spot in between our eyes (the third eye).. There was no real point to it (at least i didn’t think so back then!).. but it was our thing, and a part of our smoking ritual. When I touched this spliff to my forehead it made me feel respect and love for my very good friend! It make me appreciate the moment, and him, and gave the whole thing a 'special feeling'. So, what rituals do I have today you may wonder, well read on and lets find out!
@zen-art
From small to those bigger ones, we perform rituals every day. They are in our daily lives and not only in the spiritual from but the business and leisure one too. Some are even habitual and we do not think about them. Let's do that now. Let's talk about our rituals and why are or aren't they important to us.
Sometimes we are eager to proclaim how someone is a creature of habit and say how someone else is completely unpredictable. Where do you see yourself on that scale? As for me, it all depends on what part of my life we are talking about. There are areas where rituals are important to me and those where doing something the same way over and over again seems like a nightmare. It just proves that we are multilayered beings and labeling or putting us in little boxes is never a good thing to do.
CHECK OUT OUR PREVIOUS QUESTION OF THE WEEK
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https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@eco-alex/ecotrain-question-of-the-week-tie-up-post-what-lessons-will-you-take-with-you-for-your-potential-next-life-if-you-die-tomorrow
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Hi, my upvotes have started again, and this looks like a good entry in my stumbling curated curators posts too!
Rituals? Perhaps dream yoga practice while falling asleep - although not a very dramatic ritual.
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Thank you for this post @eco-alex and thanks for sharing your routine. I upvoted and resteemed. :-) I just started a morning routine that I am finding helps me through my day. I learned of a chant from JAI DEV SINGH who does Kundalini Yoga. I have been doing this every morning as soon as I wake up right on my bed. It is suppose to open the chakras and give energy to the body. I also do a QiGong exercise that is only 7 mins.
ooh thanks for sharing this.. watching! I also do a 15 minute qi gong routine.. either the 5 elements or 8 brocades.. i Love them! the best! you have a lovely week too
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